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Info on PAX Milwaukee WPXE's future from the General Manager

P

PaulKTF

I e-mailed the General Manger of WPXE asking him about the future of PAX/WPXE and this is his reply. I thought I'd share it with you all:

--

Hello,
Thanks for your note. As it stands right now all conversations
regarding PAX programming are just rumors. What does happen on July 1st
is the end of our sales agreement with WPXE. The PAX network has
dissolved all of their agreements with NBC affiliates around the country
on that date. We are still negotiating with PAX to temporarily house
their engineering functions in our building but even that would be for
the short term. Bottom line is our relationship with PAX is nearing its
end. I know this doesn't help a whole lot but this is pretty much all we
have been told.
Mark

Mark Strachota
VP/General Manager
WTMJ-TV
<P ID="signature">______________
-Paul</P>
 
> I e-mailed the General Manger of WPXE asking him about the
> future of PAX/WPXE and this is his reply. I thought I'd
> share it with you all:

Thanks for the update.

We have the same problem here in the Cleveland market, where PAX's LMA agreement with WKYC/3 (NBC, Gannett) is also supposed to end next month. But the stakes are a little higher here, as WKYC produces a local newscast aimed at the Akron/Canton area 5 days a week, which airs on WVPX/23.

By all indications, the "PAX 23 News" operation has been a success. The ratings numbers are hard to sort through, but it's got roughly double the audience of the former local news effort on Ch. 23 when it was an ABC affiliate. And it helps WKYC cement an image as the top TV news player down here in this part of the market.

Not only that, the city of Akron is involved, giving a few hundred thousand dollars at the start of the PAX 23 News effort to help renovate a streetside office/studio at Main and Market. And the communications director for Akron's mayor is Mark Williamson, former news director and anchor for "23 Newsday", back in the ABC days.

Bottom line - it'll be difficult for WKYC to pull out of the operation, no matter what the relationship with PAX is. Perhaps it'll turn into a straight program carriage agreement or something for the newscast. But if PAX 23 ends up being a Spanish-language station or something post-PAX, all bets are off...

"WB 55 News" anyone? :D

-OA
 
> > I e-mailed the General Manger of WPXE asking him about the
>
> > future of PAX/WPXE and this is his reply. I thought I'd
> > share it with you all:
>
> Thanks for the update.
>
> We have the same problem here in the Cleveland market, where
> PAX's LMA agreement with WKYC/3 (NBC, Gannett) is also
> supposed to end next month. But the stakes are a little
> higher here, as WKYC produces a local newscast aimed at the
> Akron/Canton area 5 days a week, which airs on WVPX/23.
>
> By all indications, the "PAX 23 News" operation has been a
> success. The ratings numbers are hard to sort through, but
> it's got roughly double the audience of the former local
> news effort on Ch. 23 when it was an ABC affiliate. And it
> helps WKYC cement an image as the top TV news player down
> here in this part of the market.
>
> Not only that, the city of Akron is involved, giving a few
> hundred thousand dollars at the start of the PAX 23 News
> effort to help renovate a streetside office/studio at Main
> and Market. And the communications director for Akron's
> mayor is Mark Williamson, former news director and anchor
> for "23 Newsday", back in the ABC days.
>
> Bottom line - it'll be difficult for WKYC to pull out of the
> operation, no matter what the relationship with PAX is.
> Perhaps it'll turn into a straight program carriage
> agreement or something for the newscast. But if PAX 23 ends
> up being a Spanish-language station or something post-PAX,
> all bets are off...
>
> "WB 55 News" anyone? :D

If Akron loses its own newscast on Channel 23, a better idea would be for Scripps to place a WEWS-produced Akron/Canton-targeted newscast between Shop At Home presentations on WOAC 67. However, I doubt that will ever happen.
 
Re: Future of WVPX/23 Akron

> If Akron loses its own newscast on Channel 23, a better idea
> would be for Scripps to place a WEWS-produced
> Akron/Canton-targeted newscast between Shop At Home
> presentations on WOAC 67. However, I doubt that will ever
> happen.
----------
I think WBNX/55 should pick up the newscast should WVPX/23 lose it, but WKYC could continue to produce it.

Can the Cleveland market handle a second Spanish station? If so then WVPX could join Telemundo.
 
Re: Future of WVPX/23 Akron

> Can the Cleveland market handle a second Spanish station?
> If so then WVPX could join Telemundo.
>
But first, does Cleveland even have the sufficient audience to handle their existing Univision channel, WQHS ch.61? Someone mentioned that they still have no local ads or news on that channel.

I know it's all about choice, but if no one's watching, is it worth it?
 
They can not put news on any Shop@Home Network Station owned by the Network. (EW Scripps is the parent company of Shop@Home, so you can say the channel is owned by the network). A guy I know is the General Manager and Chief Engineer at WSAH Channel 43 in Seymour, CT (COL=Bridgeport), which owned by EW Scripps. He told me that Channel 43 has to show the Shop@Home Network 164 1/2 Hours Per Week. That leaves 3 hours for the required E/I Programming and a 1/2 hour for a Public Affairs Show.<P ID="signature">______________
~Jay Clark~
</P>
 
Re: Future of WVPX/23 Akron

> But first, does Cleveland even have the sufficient audience
> to handle their existing Univision channel, WQHS ch.61?
> Someone mentioned that they still have no local ads or news
> on that channel.
>
> I know it's all about choice, but if no one's watching, is
> it worth it?
------------
WQHS doesn't have its own website, that's for sure. Where I live I might be able to pull in WQHS if I get the right conditions and check, but I doubt it.

Some of these stations should just go off the air if there's no demand for them. We're only worried about channel allotments getting short because we've wasted so many of them.
 
Re:WQHS 61

> ------------
> WQHS doesn't have its own website, that's for sure. Where I
> live I might be able to pull in WQHS if I get the right
> conditions and check, but I doubt it.
>
> Some of these stations should just go off the air if there's
> no demand for them. We're only worried about channel
> allotments getting short because we've wasted so many of
> them.
mjlarochelle:
You must be just across Lake Erie in Ontario (checked your profile)
I can get a faint signal from 61 with a cheap 5 inch B&W TV in Canton
 
> They can not put news on any Shop@Home Network Station owned
> by the Network. (EW Scripps is the parent company of
> Shop@Home, so you can say the channel is owned by the
> network). A guy I know is the General Manager and Chief
> Engineer at WSAH Channel 43 in Seymour, CT (COL=Bridgeport),
> which owned by EW Scripps. He told me that Channel 43 has to
> show the Shop@Home Network 164 1/2 Hours Per Week. That
> leaves 3 hours for the required E/I Programming and a 1/2
> hour for a Public Affairs Show.

That doesn't sound right. If Scripps wants to make WOAC an independent station for Cleveland (or even WB when WBNX's contract is up, since that station's ownership doesn't really sit well with WB's sometimes sexually-charged programming) but with an Akron/Canton news bureau through sharing resources with WEWS, they should legally have the right to amend the Shop At Home contract to do so, since they share the same corporate structure. This would actually serve the public interest better than it currently does, and give Akron/Canton a newscast if the PAX station agreement with WKYC goes away. Besides, Scripps could probably keep the SAH programming overnight and one to two hours in the morning (like its independent in Kansas City does). The SAH stations in other markets do not fit well with the Scripps broadcast group, unless they see them as a license to make money through the home shopping programming.

Then again, when WBNX's WB contract is up, UPN may fold by then, and WUAB would try for the WB affiliation.
 
Re: Future of WVPX/23 Akron

> > Can the Cleveland market handle a second Spanish station?
>
> > If so then WVPX could join Telemundo.
> >
> But first, does Cleveland even have the sufficient audience
> to handle their existing Univision channel, WQHS ch.61?
> Someone mentioned that they still have no local ads or news
> on that channel.
>
> I know it's all about choice, but if no one's watching, is
> it worth it?
>

Census data says Cleveland's "persons of Hispanic or Latino origin" is about 7.3% in 2000. This doesn't mean spanish speaker (Univision audience) but people of hispanic origin.

<P ID="signature">______________
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.stationindex.com/>TV Station List</a></P>
 
PAX 23 Akron News and Where It Goes, WQHS

> I think WBNX/55 should pick up the newscast should WVPX/23
> lose it, but WKYC could continue to produce it.

I think WKYC is happy with the PAX 23 News thing. It solidifies their base down here and they use "PAX 23" to market stuff other than news...i.e. the local air show this past week is co-sponsored with the "PAX 23" branding, and the station also airs the annual telethon that benefits Children's Hospital of Akron, stuff like that. They've got a lot invested in that, and even if they did manage to find a home for the newscast, that all goes away with the end of the LMA.

You'd think WB55 would be a logical home for the current newscast on WVPX, but with one exception... WBNX is owned by Rev. Ernest Angely. Yes, THAT Rev. Angely, a faith healer and TV show host parodied by Robin Williams.

WKYC would have to ensure that the Rev. Angely doesn't mess with their content. That's probably not a big hurdle, since "PAX 23 News" is not at all sensationalistic and doesn't produce anything that'd even give the Rev. gas, and 55 doesn't pre-empt even the "supernatural themed" dramas that WB airs ("Charmed", etc.).

The other obstacle - Rev. Angely airs his own weeknight religious talk show, "The Ninety and Nine Club", from 10-11 PM...right after the end of the WB schedule. Right now, "PAX 23 News" produces a 6:30 PM and 10 PM newscast. They wouldn't be able to move it the late cast to 11, because of conflicts with WKYC. So, if the 23 news operation moved to 55, they'd likely have to pare down to just the early cast. I'm thinking Rev. Ernest isn't moving his show again.

And the unknown here - PAX had to kick in some money to start the newscast, because it came as a result of a settlement with the City of Akron. (Akron held up a modification to their tower with this, by the way.) I don't know how PAX is still legally/financially entangled with the newscast.

> Can the Cleveland market handle a second Spanish station?
> If so then WVPX could join Telemundo.

The Cleveland market barely needs WQHS. There aren't a lot of Spanish-speaking Hispanics in this market. Cleveland's radio market has NO Spanish-language stations. Period. Of any size! Every so often, a far suburban AM tries it. The most recent was WDLW/1380 out of the Lorain/Elyria area just west of Cleveland...and even THEY found more money running English-language oldies music.

-OA
 
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